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Asteraceae
CENTAUREA cyanus 'Blue Boy'
Batchelor's Buttons, Cornflower
Treasured for its sky-blue flowers that resemble small thistles, cornflower is a short-lived, cool-season annual from the northern temperate regions. The cultivar 'Blue Boy' has frilly double blooms on thigh-high stems sparsely furnished with narrow gray-green leaves. Fall-sown seedlings often overwinter as rosettes and flower the next spring. Plants bloom about 85 days after early-spring sowing.
Sow cornflowers in full sun and well-drained soil in early spring. In USDA zones 6 and warmer, seeds can also be sown in fall for winter or spring bloom. Remove spent flowers to prolong bloom time. Cornflower is a useful cutflower and a cottage garden favorite which often naturalizes. Combine it with other self-sowing annuals such as corn poppies and gloriosa daisies. The edible flowers make good decorations for salads and other foods.
7 - 1
H1, H2, 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Annual
Full Sun
30"-36" / 76.2cm - 91.4cm
10"-15" / 25.4cm - 38.1cm
Indeterminate
World/Pandemic, North America, Europe, Russia/Siberia, China, Korea
Acidic, Neutral, Alkaline
Well Drained
Loam, Sand
Pollution, Drought
Very Fast
Average Water
Upright/Erect
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter
Showy
Blue, Sky Blue
Gray Green
No
Single
Yes
Medium
Matte
Cutflower, Mixed Border, Wildflower
Sometimes
Butterflies
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